Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR IMPROVEMENT IN FROTH
FLOTATION
Background of the Invention
The invention relates to novel methods, compositions, and
apparatuses for improving the effectiveness of froth flotation beneficiation
processes. In a beneficiation process, two or more materials which coexist in
a
mixture (the fines) are separated from each other using chemical and/or
mechanical
processes. Often one of the materials (the beneficiary) is more valuable or
desired
than the other material (the gangue).
As described for example in US Patents 4,756,823, 5,304,317,
5.379,902, 7,553,984, 6,827,220, 8,093,303, 8,123,042, and in Published US
Patent
Applications 2010/0181520 Al and 2011/0198296, one form of beneficiation is
froth flotation separation. In froth flotation separation the fines are mixed
with
water to form slurry. The slurry is then sparged to form bubbles which rise up
out of
the slurry. The more hydrophobic material (the concentrate) adheres to and
rises up
with the bubbles and gathers in a froth layer above the slurry. The froth
layer is then
is deposited on a launder where the concentrate gathers. The less hydrophobic
material (the tailings) remains behind in the slurry.
Two common forms of flotation separation processes are direct
flotation and reverse flotation. In direct flotation processes, the
concentrate is the
beneficiary and the tailings are the gangue. In reverse flotation processes,
the
gangue constituent is floated into the concentrate and the beneficiary remains
behind
in the slurry. The object of the flotation is to separate and recover as much
of the
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valuable constituent(s) of the fine as possible in as high a concentration as
possible
which is then made available for further downstream processing steps.
Froth flotation separation can be used to separate solids from solids
(such as the constituents of mine ore) or liquids from solids or from other
liquids
(such as the separation of bitumen from oil sands). When used on solids, froth
separation also includes having the solids comminuted (ground up by such
techniques as dry-grinding, wet-grinding, and the like). After the solids have
been
comminuted they are more readily dispersed in the slurry and the small solid
hydrophobic particles can more readily adhere to the sparge bubbles.
There are a number of additives that can be added to increase the
efficiency of a froth flotation separation. Collectors are additives which
adhere to
the surface of concentrate particles and enhance their overall hydrophobicity.
Gas
bubbles then preferentially adhere to the hydrophobicized concentrate and it
is more
readily removed from the slurry than are other constituents, which are less
hydrophobic or are hydrophilic. As a result, the collector efficiently pulls
particular
constituents out of the slurry while the remaining tailings which are not
modified by
the collector, remain in the slurry. This process can also or instead utilize
chemicals,
which increase the hydrophilic properties of materials selected to remain
within the
slurry. Examples of collectors include kerosene, diesel fuel, oily products
such as
fuel oil, tar oil, animal oil, and hydrophobic polymers. Other additives
include
frothing agents, regulators, depressors (deactivators) and/or activators,
which
enhance the selectivity of the flotation step and facilitate the removal of
the
concentrate from the slurry.
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Unfortunately a number of these collectors are either prohibitively
expensive or require such massive volumes that they are impractical as -
workhorse"
type collectors. Thus it is clear that there is definite utility in improved
methods,
compositions, and apparatuses for use as collectors in froth separation
slurry. The
art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that
any
patent, publication or other information referred to herein is "prior art"
with respect
to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this
section
should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other
pertinent information as defined in 37 CFR 1.56(a) exists.
Brief Summary of the Invention
To satisfy the long-felt but unsolved needs identified above, at least
one embodiment of the invention is directed towards a method of enhancing the
performance of a froth flotation separation of slurry in a medium. The method
comprises the steps of: i) adding to the slurry a composition, the composition
comprising a hydrophobic reaction product, a surfactant, ii) optionally a
diluent and
optionally a coupling agent, and iii) removing concentrate from the slurry by
sparging the slurry. The slurry may contain comminuted coal.
The hydrophobic reaction product is the result of a reaction of: a
moiety which is a unsaturated mono- and polycarboxylic acids, their
precursors,
anhydrides, acyl halides, salts, amides, esters, or blends thereof with at
least one of:
an unsaturated fatty acid or unsaturated fatty ester of natural origin, an
unsaturated
fatty acid or unsaturated fatty ester of synthetic origin, including
triglyceride oils,
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and at least one of a polyolefin with the molecular weight in the range from
about
400 to about 10,000 Daltons.
The moiety may be at least one of: lauroleic, myristoleic,
palimitoleic, oleic, erucic, maleic, fumaric, glutaconic, citraconic,
mesaconic,
aconitic, and itaconic acid, 5-norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid. 1,2,3,6-
tetrahydrophthalic acid,esters thereof, anhydrides, acyl halides and esters
thereof, or
blends thereof, and any combination thereof. The fatty acids may be selected
from
the list consisting of: C6-C24 unsaturated fatty acids with a straight or
branched
carbon chains, palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, ricinoleic,
eleostearic,
docosahexaenoic acids, eicosapentaenoic acid, and any combination thereof.
The hydrophobic reaction product may be one selected from the list
consisting of: maleinized linseed oil polymer, heat polymerized linseed oil,
oligomeric acids prepared from tall oil, and any combination thereof. The
hydrophobic reaction product may be produced by reacting unsaturated
polycarboxylic acids, esters therof, anhydrides, acyl halides and esters
thereof, or
combination thereof with olefin polymers. The olefin polymers may be one
selected
from the list consisting of: any isomer of ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 2-
butene,
isobutene, pentenes, hexenes and heptenes, and any combination thereof and may
include or comprise polyisobutenyl succinic anhydrides. The surfactant may be
one
of: fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers, alkylphenol polyglycol ethers, fatty acid
polyglycol esters, fatty acid amide polyglycol ethers, fatty amine polyglycol
ethers,
alkoxylated triglycerides, alk(en)yl oligoglucosides, fatty acid-N-alkyl
glucamides,
protein hydrolyzates (more particularly soya-based vegetable products), polyol
fatty
acid esters, sugar esters, sorbitan esters and polysorbates, polyoxyethylene
alkyl
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ethers, polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ethers, ether esters, polyethyleneglycerol
fatty
acid esters; polyethyleneglycol fatty acid esters, and any combination
thereof.
The diluent or coupling agent may be one item selected from the
group consisting of: of solvatropes, coupling agents, water and oil miscible
organic
solvents, alcohols, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters of carboxylic acids,
aliphatic,
aromatic, terpenic, paraffinic, isoparaffinic and olefinic hydrocarbons,
alcohols and
glycol ethers, and any combination thereof.
The method may further comprising the steps of: iv) mixing the
composition with a base liquid in a manner that forms a desired ratio of
composition
to base liquid, prior to adding it to slurry, v) measuring the rate of the
concentrate
removal, and vi) adjusting the ratio to increase the rate of the
concentrate
removal.
Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be
apparent from, the following Detailed Description.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
A detailed description of the invention is hereafter described with
specific reference being made to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is graph illustrating the effectiveness of the invention.
FIG. 2 is chart illustrating the effectiveness of the invention on yield.
FIG. 3 is chart illustrating the effectiveness of the invention on
recovery.
FIG. 4 is chart illustrating the effectiveness of the invention on ash%.
For the purposes of this disclosure, like reference numerals in the
figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated. The drawings
are only
an exemplification of the principles of the invention and are not intended to
limit the
invention to the particular embodiments illustrated.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The following definitions are provided to determine how terms used
in this application, and in particular how the claims, are to be construed.
The
organization of the definitions is for convenience only and is not intended to
limit
any of the definitions to any particular category.
"Collector" means a composition of matter that selectively adheres to
a particular constituent of the fine and facilitates the adhesion of the
particular
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constituent to the micro-bubbles that result from the sparging of a fine
bearing
slurry.
"Comminuted" means powdered, pulverized, ground, or otherwise
rendered into fine solid particles.
"Concentrate" means the portion of fine which is separated from the
slurry by flotation and collected within the froth layer.
"Consisting Essentially of' means that the methods and compositions
may include additional steps, components, ingredients or the like, but only if
the
additional steps, components and/or ingredients do not materially alter the
basic and
novel characteristics of the claimed methods and compositions.
"Fine" means a composition of matter containing a mixture of a more
wanted material, the beneficialy and a less wanted material, the gangue.
"Frother" means a composition of matter that enhances the formation
of the micro-bubbles and/or preserves the formed micro-bubbles bearing the
hydrophobic fraction that result from the sparging of slurry.
-HLB" means the hydrophillic-lipophillic balance of an emulsifier
which is a measure of the degree to which it is hydrophilic or lipophilic, it
can be
determined by the equation:
II LB = 20 * h /Ai
in which Mh is the molecular mass of the hydrophilic portion of the Molecule,
and
M is the molecular mass of the whole molecule, giving a result on a scale of 0
to 20.
An HLB value of 0 corresponds to a completely lipophilic/hydrophobic molecule,
and a value of 20 corresponds to a completely hydrophilic/lipophobic molecule.
HLB values are characterized as:
7
HLB < 10: Lipid soluble (water insoluble)
HLB > 10: Water soluble (lipid insoluble)
HLB from 4 to 8 indicates an anti-foaming agent
HLB from 7 to 11 indicates a W/O (water in oil) emulsifier
HLB from 12 to 16 indicates 0/W (oil in water) emulsifier
HLB from 11 to 14 indicates a wetting agent
HLB from 12 to 15 indicates a detergent
HLB of 16 to 20 indicates a solubiliser or hydrotrope.
"Promoter" means an ingredient designed to increase performance of
to a collector.
"Slurry" means a mixture comprising a liquid medium within which
fines (which can be liquid and/or finely divided solids) are dispersed or
suspended,
when slurry is sparged, the tailings remain in the slurry and at least some of
the
concentrate adheres to the sparse bubbles and rises up out of the slurry into
a froth
is layer above the slurry, the liquid medium may be entirely water,
partially water, or
may not contain any water at all.
"Surfactant" is a broad term which includes anionic, nonionic,
cationic, and zwitterionic surfactants. Enabling descriptions of surfactants
are
stated in Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third Edition,
20 volume 8, pages 900-912, and in McCutcheon's Emulsifiers and
Detergents.
"Sparging" means the introduction of gas into a liquid for the
purpose of creating a plurality of bubbles that migrate up the liquid.
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In the event that the above definitions or a description stated elsewhere in
this
application is inconsistent with a meaning (explicit or implicit) which is
commonly used, in a
dictionary, the application and the claim terms in particular are understood
to be construed
according to the definition or description in this application, and not
according to the common
definition, or dictionary definition. In light of the above, in the event that
a term can only be
understood if it is construed by a dictionary, if the term is defined by the
Kirk-Othmer
Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 5th Edition, (2005), (Published by Wiley,
John & Sons,
Inc.) this definition shall control how the term is to be defined in the
claims.
In at least one embodiment a froth flotation separation process is enhanced by
the
addition to the slurry of an inventive composition. The inventive composition
comprises three
ingredients: 1) a hydrophobic reaction products derived from organic
substrates of natural and
synthetic origin. The hydrophobic reaction product may comprise between 60-95%
of the
composition, 2) one or more surfactants. The surfactant(s) may comprise
between 0.1-40% of
the composition. 3) One or more diluent and/or coupling agents. The diluent
and/or coupling
agent may comprise between 5-40% of the composition.
In at least one embodiment the hydrophobic reaction products suitable as
Ingredient 1 can be prepared by reacting (A 1 ) unsaturated mono- and
polycarboxylic acids, their
precursors, esters thereof, anhydrides thereof, acyl halides and esters
thereof, salts, amides,
esters, or blends thereof with at least one of the following:
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(A2) Unsaturated fatty acids and esters thereof of natural or synthetic
origin including triglyceride oils and/or
(A3) Polyolefins with the molecular weight in the range from about 400 to
about 10,000 Daltons.
In at least one embodiment the unsaturated carboxylic acids (Al)
contain at least one replaceable hydrogen atom per molecule. The preferable
are such
unsaturated monocarboxylic acids as lauroleic, myristoleic, palimitoleic,
oleic, and
erucic. The suitable polycarboxylic acids are maleic acid, fumaric acid,
glutaconic
acid, citraconic acid, mesaconic acid, aconitic acid and itaconic acid, 5-
norbornene-
2,3-dicarboxylic acid, 1,2,3,6-tetrahydrophthalic acid, their precursors,
esters
thereof, anhydrides, acyl halides and esters thereof, or blends thereof.
Fatty acids (A2) may include C6-C24 unsaturated fatty acids with a
straight or branched carbon chain. Particularly preferable are palmitoleic,
oleic,
linoleic, linolenic, ricinoleic, eleostearic, docosahexaenoic acids,
elcosapentaenoic
acid, and the likes. Any combination of the unsaturated monobasic acids listed
above may be used. In the synthesis of the instant materials, the fatty acids
can also
be used as their esters with C1-C4 alcohols, including but not limited to
methyl ester
or ethyl esters. Additionally, natural esters of the fatty acids can be
utilized as
Reactant A2, which include crude or processed triglyceride oils of vegetable
or
animal origin such as soybean oil, linseed oil, castor oil, dehydrated castor
oil, corn
oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, fish oils, lard oil, beef oil,
oiticica oil,
tung oil, and tall oil, or their combinations. The usefulness of the fatty
acids and oils
is directly related to the density of double-bond in the fatty acid chains.
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In at least one embodiment the hydrophobic compounds are produced
by the reaction of maleic anhydride with unsaturated fatty acids or esters
thereof
including triglyceride oils of vegetable and animal origin. Such maleinization
reaction is well known to those skilled in the art to form a condensation
product in
the presence of heat and/or pressure. Depending on the amount of the anhydride
reacted, maleinization may proceed in several steps. The addition of the first
mole of
the anhydride may proceed through an "ene" reaction, which may result in the
addition of a succinic anhydride group to the allylic functionality of the
fatty chain.
For the oils (and fatty acids) having more than one double bond in the fatty
chains,
such as linseed or soybean oil, the first step may be followed by
rearrangement of the
double bonds of the fatty chain into a conjugated system and addition of the
second
mole of the anhydride through Diels Alder reaction. Additionally, elevated
temperatures may also cause a direct intermolecular "ene" and Diels Alder
reactions
between the fatty acid chains of triglyceride oils (particularly, natural oils
rich in
polyunsaturated carbon chains such as linseed, tung, and fish oils). Such
"ene" and
Diels Alder reactions can further cross-link the unsaturated fatty acid
fragments
forming saturated or unsaturated rings of five or six atoms, which improves
promoter performance of the instant materials. Examples of ene reactions and
materials produced therefrom are described in US Patents 3,819,660, 3,219,666,
3,172,892, 3,272,746, and 8,242,287.
While preparing the hydrophobic products of the instant invention,
the reaction conditions can also be set to induce direct intermolecular and
intramolecular "ene" reactions between mono- and poly- unsaturated
monocarboxylic acids such as those in tall oil ¨ a byproduct of the Kraft
process of
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wood pulp manufacture. These ene reactions can cross-link the unsaturated
fatty acid
fragments to form useful dimeric. trimeric, and other oligomeric species, or
in the
case of polyunsaturated fatty acid fragments ¨ oligomeric and polymeric
species
containing saturated or unsaturated rings of five or six atoms, which was
found to
improve the effect of instant materials on flotation.
The "ene" and Diels Alder reaction products may be further cross-
linked to create even higher molecular weight species useful in the present
invention.
Such cross-linking may be accomplished through the esterification of the
carboxylic
functionalities with polyols. For this purpose, mono-, di-, and tri- glycerol,
pentaerythritol, sorbitol, polyvinyl alcohol, alpha-methyl-0-glucoside and
polyallyl
alcohol can be used by those skilled in the art. The useful polyols may be
bifunctional glycols or poly(alkylene) glycols derived from at least one unit
selected
from but not limited to the group of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, butylene
oxide,
pentylene oxide, and hexylene oxide, and any combination thereof.
An example of a material prepared by the above method is the
Falkwood 51 YZ maleinized linseed oil polymer from Cargill, Inc. Another
example
of the suitable materials are the VOM 25 and VOS 70 heat polymerized linseed
oils,
also from Cargill, Inc. Further examples of the suitable material are Unidyme
and
Century oligomeric acids prepared from tall oil available from Arizona
Chemical.
Finished hydrophobic materials of the present invention may be
comprised from about 50% to 90% of the species having an average molecular
weight from 500 to 10,000 Daltons and from about 10% to 50% of the species
with a
molecular weight in the range from 10,000 to 100,000 Daltons as determined by
gel
permeation chromatography.
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In at least one embodiment the hydrophobic materials can be
produced by reacting unsaturated polycarboxylic acids Al with olefin polymers
(A3).
Suitable olefin polymers may be prepared by polymerization of
olefins containing up to 7 carbon atoms. Polymers derived from both
monoolefins
and diolefins can be utilized. Suitable monoolefins include ethylene,
propylene. 1-
butene, 2-butene, isobutene and the pentenes, hexenes and heptenes (all
isomers
included). The diolefins may be conjugated or nonconjugated; suitable
conjugated
diolefins include butadienes, isoprene, 1,3-pentadiene and 1,3-hexadiene, and
suitable nonconjugated diolefins include 1,4-pentadiene, 1,4-hexadiene and 1,5-
hexadiene, and any combination thereof.
Suitable polymers are those derived from monoolefins, especially
mono- 1-olefins and more especially C2-6 mono-1-olefins such as ethylene,
propylene and the butenes, and any combination thereof. Homopolymers and
interpolymers are suitable, and the interpolymers may be ordinary chain
interpolymers or graft interpolymers. The preferred polymers are homopolymers
and
interpolymers derived from mixtures of monomers differing in size by at most
about
two carbon atoms, such as ethylene-propylene interpolymers and the polybutenes
more fully described hereinafter.
Suitable olefin polymers can contain minor proportions of alicyclic or
aromatic carbon atoms which may be derived from such monomers as cyclopentene,
cyclohexene, methylene cyclopentene, methylene cyclohexene, 1,3-
cyclohexadiene,
norbornene, norbornadiene, cyclopentadiene, styrene and a-methylstyrene, and
any
combination thereof.
13
The olefin polymer may contain about 30-300 and preferably about 50-250
carbon atoms. The number average molecular weight of the polymer, as
determined by gel
permeation chromatography, is ordinarily about 420-10,000, especially about
700-5,000 and
more especially about 750-3,000.
A particularly preferred class of olefin polymers comprises the polybutenes,
which are prepared by polymerization of one or more of 1-butene, 2-butene and
isobutene.
Especially desirable are polybutenes containing a substantial proportion of
units derived from
isobutene. The polybutene may contain minor amounts of butadiene which may or
may not be
incorporated in the polymer. Most often the isobutene units constitute 80%,
preferably at least
90%, of the units in the polymer. These polybutenes are readily available
commercial materials.
In at least one embodiment the materials produced using olefin polymers (A3)
are
polyisobutenyl succinic anhydrides (PIBSA) as described, for example, in U.S.
pat. Nos.
3445386, 3912764, 4110349, and 5041622. Such materials, for example, derived
from 1000 and
1300 molecular weight polybutenes are available from the Chevron Oronite
Company, TX,
under the trade names OLOA 15500 and OLOA 15667, respectively. Suitable PIBSA
materials
are also available from the Lubrizol Corporation, OH, under the trade names
Addconate H,
Addconate S, Lubrizol 5620, and others, and any combination thereof.
Surfactants suitable as Ingredient 2 can be ionic, nonionic, or mixtures of
ionic
and nonionic surfactants, and any combination thereof.
The surface-active agents in the compositions of this invention are typically
used
in the amount from about 0.1 to 40 percent by weight, preferably from
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about 0.5 to about 20 percent by weight, more preferably from about 1 to about
20
percent by weight.
Preferable surfactants are nonionic surfactants that may be present
either on their own or in admixture with the ionic surfactants. Typical
examples of
nonionic surfactants are fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers, alkylphenol
polyglycol
ethers, fatty acid polyglycol esters, fatty acid amide polyglycol ethers,
fatty amine
polyglycol ethers, alkoxylated triglycerides, alk(en)yl oligoglucosides, fatty
acid-N-
alkyl glucamides, protein hydrolyzates (more particularly soya-based vegetable
products), polyol fatty acid esters, sugar esters, sorbitan esters and
polysorbates, and
any combination thereof.
Nonionic surfactants include ethylene-oxide condensation surfactants
prepared by addition polymerization of ethylene oxide, including ethers such
as
polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers and polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ethers; ether
esters
such as polyethyleneglycerol fatty acid esters; and esters such as
polyethyleneglycol
fatty acid esters, and any combination thereof; specifically, POE (10)
monolaurate,
POE (10, 25, 40, 45 or 55) monostearate, POE (21 or 25) lauryl ether, POE (15,
20,
23, 25, 30 or 40) cetyl ether, POE (20) stearyl ether, POE (2, 3, 5, 7, 10,
15, 18 or
20) nonyl phenyl ether wherein POE represents polyoxyethylene and a number in
parentheses is a molar number of ethylene oxide added.
Most preferred non-ionic surfactants are polyglycol fatty acid esters
available from Nalco company, IL, USA, Tween and SPAN sorbitan fatty acid
esters
available from Uniqema, NJ, USA, Tergitol primary and secondary alcohol
ethoxylates available from Dow Chemical Company, MI, USA.
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In at least one embodiment the ionic surfactants are distinguished by
a lipophilic, preferably linear alkyl or alkylene group containing 8 to 18
carbon
atoms and an ionic group dissociating in water preferably attached terminally
thereto. The anionic group may be, for example, a sulfate, sulfonate,
phosphate or
carboxylate group, and any combination thereof.
The ionic surfactants are preferably anionic surfactants. Typical
examples of anionic surfactants are alkyl benzene sulfonates, alkane
sulfonates,
olefin sulfonates, alkyl ether sulfonates, glycerol ether sulfonates, alpha-
methyl ester
sulfonates, sulfofatty acids, alkyl sulfates, monoglyceride (ether) sulfates,
fatty acid
amide (ether) sulfates, mono- and dialkyl sulfosuccinates, mono- and dialkyl
sulfosuccinamates, sulfotriglycerides, amide soaps, ether carboxylic acids and
salts
thereof, fatty acid isethionates, fatty acid sarcosinates, fatty acid
taurides, acyl
lactylates, acyl tartrates, acyl glutamates, acyl aspartates, alkyl
oligoglucoside
sulfates, protein fatty acid condensates (more particularly wheat-based
vegetable
products) and alkyl (ether) phosphates, and any combination thereof. If the
anionic
surfactants contain polyglycol ether chains, they may have a conventional
homolog
distribution although they preferably have a narrow homolog distribution.
Preferred
anionic surfactants are alkyl sulfates, fatty alcohol ether sulfates, alkane
sulfonates
and/or ether carboxylic acids, fatty alcohol ether sulfates being particularly
preferred.
Ingredient 3 can be selected from the group of solvatrope or coupling
agents such as water and oil miscible organic solvents such as alcohols,
ketones,
carboxylic acids or esters of carboxylic acids, and any combination thereof.
The
presence of Ingredient 3 facilitates the emulsion formation when the
formulation is
added to slurry, it also depresses the freeze point of the composition.
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Ingredient 3 can be selected from the group consisting of aliphatic,
aliphatic, terpenic, paraffinic, isoparaffinic and olefinic hydrocarbons,
alcohols and
glycol ethers, and any combination thereof.
It is well known that many coals plants act as "toll" flotation
operators processing coal from different mines and stockpiles. The natural
differences in coal floatability force the flotation operators to adjust the
reagent
consumption each time when the coal source changes. In a common case, the
operators decrease or increase the flow of the diesel or kerosene collector to
their
cell. Sometimes, even the highest possible increase of flow rates of the
diesel or
kerosene collectors cannot make a particular coal to produce acceptable
flotation
yield and recovery. In at least one embodiment the composition is blended with
a
hydrocarbon base liquid (such as but not limited to diesel or kerosene)
directly on-
site. In at least one embodiment a feeding apparatus is constructed and
arranged to
adjust the mixing ratio in accordance with the consumption requirements of
particular coal feed.
EXAMPLES
The foregoing may be better understood by reference to the following
examples, which are presented for purposes of illustration and are not
intended to
limit the scope of the invention.
A number of formulations for compositions added to a flotation
separation were prepared as listed in Table 1. Comminuted coal ore from a mine
in
India underwent flotation separation with one of the listed samples added to
the
slurry. The formulations were added in a ratio of 270 grams per ton of coal.
The
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flotation time was 2.5 minutes. Both the yield of concentrate and the ash
resulting
from the combustion of the concentrate were measured. Burning of non-flotation
separated ore resulted in approximately 31% of the material becoming ash so
the
degree to which the floated material had ash content below 31% is a measure of
the
effectiveness of the flotation separation. FIGs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate the
effectiveness of these formulations.
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Table 1
Sample % % Escaid % Linseed % Maleinized % % PIBSA %
PIBSA % PIBSA %
Name #2 Diesel Oil Linseed C2OASA
Addconate S Addconate Lubrizol Phosphate
Oil H 5625 Ester
TA-0 100
TA-1 70 30
TA-2 70 30
TA-3 70 30
TA-4 70 30
TA-5 70 20 10
TA-6 70 20 10
TA-7 70 20 10
TA-8 70 20 10
TA-9 70 30
TA-10 70 30
TA-11 70 30
In another example, two formulations for compositions added to a
flotation separation were prepared as listed in Table 2.
ck % % Butanol
Yield, Ash% Recovery,
Maleinize % Soybean Straight distillation
(7c, %
% d Fatty Acid Run ends
Sample #2 Linseed Methyl Middle
Name Diesel Oil Ester Distillate
TA-0 100 40.6 9.3 63.6
TA-67 15 80 5 45.0 11.1 68.4
TA-68 15 40 40 5 45.6 11.2 68.9
Comminuted coal from a North American mine underwent flotation
separation with one of the listed samples added to the slurry. The
formulations were
io added in a ratio of 200 grams per ton of coal. The flotation time
was 45 seconds.
Both the yield of concentrate and the ash resulting from the combustion of the
concentrate were measured. The recovery of the flotation concentrate floated
using
Diesel #2 was 63.6%, which increased up to 68.4% and 68.9% when the products
of
the instant invention were utilized.
19
The results of the examples demonstrate that that the inventive compositions
are
at least as effective in facilitating coal flotation as is diesel and in some
cases better. The results
also indicate that diesel can be diluted with one or more of the ingredients
without loss of
effectiveness. This means that a user can adjust the ratio of diesel or other
material based on
such conditions as performance to a specific sample of ore having specific
properties, cost and/or
availability. The low ash content of the results indicates that not only do
the formulations effect
flotation separation of significant mass of the slurry, but that the
separation is properly selecting
for coal and not for non-combustible materials in the slurry.
While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there are
described in detail herein specific preferred embodiments of the invention.
The present
disclosure is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not
intended to limit the
invention to the particular embodiments illustrated. Furthermore, the
invention encompasses any
possible combination of some or all of the various embodiments described
herein. In addition
the invention encompasses any possible combination that also specifically
excludes any one or
some of the various embodiments described herein.
The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This
description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary
skill in this art. All
these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope
of the claims where
the term "comprising" means "including, but not limited to". Those familiar
with the art may
recognize other equivalents to the
CA 2904557 2017-08-10
CA 02904557 2015-09-08
WO 2014/163769 PCT/US2014/016003
specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to
be
encompassed by the claims.
All ranges and parameters disclosed herein are understood to
encompass any and all subranges subsumed therein, and every number between the
endpoints. For example, a stated range of "1 to 10" should be considered to
include
any and all subranges between (and inclusive of) the minimum value of 1 and
the
maximum value of 10; that is, all subranges beginning with a minimum value of
1 or
more, (e.g. 1 to 6.1), and ending with a maximum value of 10 or less, (e.g.
2.3 to 9.4,
3 to 8, 4 to 7), and finally to each number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10
contained
within the range. All percentages, ratios and proportions herein are by weight
unless
otherwise specified.
This completes the description of the preferred and alternate
embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other
equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are
intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.
21
